Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Big Sister

Mae, whether by nature or nurture, is inclusive. She very rarely tells someone they can't play. There aren't many people she doesn't like. And while she and Lana can sometimes get into it (they are so close in age), she is an excellent big sister to Mihiretu. She helps him put on his shoes, she assists in constructing MegaBlock towers, she holds his hand in parking lots.

We've talked about adoption since Mae was born. Our grand plan was to have two biological kids and then, if we were feeling ambitious, adopt. And what do you know? This was actually a plan that saw reality.

When Mae was about three or four, she told me that she'd like to adopt a boy from Africa, then a girl from China, then I should have another baby from my tummy, then another from India, and so on. I asked her, shakily, how many kids she was envisioning. She said ten thousand. Probably the biggest number she could think of.

With the advent of Mihiretu, we've all learned that the actuality of a new child is a lot livelier than the idea of one. In one way or the other, metaphorically or literally, he's kicked each one of us in the rear. Not that that's wholey a bad thing. He's just so much more than we imagined. He, combined with our rather disastrous move to San Jose, has made us adventurous Caprons a little gun-shy. A bit humbled, perhaps. Maybe we can't slay every dragon that comes our way. Maybe sometimes we won't find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Not that Mihiretu is a dragon or ungolden. If fact, a golden dragon is pretty much a pitch-perfect description of him. He's just brought us firmly out of fantasy. At least for awhile.

I asked Mae this morning if she's still interested in adding kids to the family. She laughed and said that maybe she "could survive another two" but no more. Amazing to me, and lovely really, that she still has the chutzpah for another two. I know I don't. Though talk to me in a couple years. I seem to have amnesia when it comes to difficult periods with small children.